Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Slice of Life - Day 4

Today I heard a song that reminded me of another time in my life.  Of course, there are particular songs that we remember from our childhood or teenage years that are emblems.  Songs that we listened to over and over that have become part of the soundtrack of our lives. But this song was different.  It wasn't the song itself but individual sounds within the song that elicited my thoughts.  
It is an interesting sensation to be transported back in time simply by the sound of the chords in a piece of music.  Much like a smell can bring back emotions and memories, this music virtually pulled from my memory the time period when I first heard the band. As I listened to the song, there were only portions of it that actually instigated the sensation.  Whiffs that stimulated my brain so that I recalled only what it felt like to live during that time. I didn't think of specific events or problems I had encountered, but instead I thought of the person I associated with the song and the time in my life. That person is gone, yet his essence still continues to swirl around me.  I do not think about him a lot. I do not yearn to speak with him. I do not regret his lack of presence. What I feel is more a sense of nostalgia for the loss.  So when I heard the song today, and whenever I hear a song by the same band, I remember, and I relish.

3 comments:

  1. Oh, yes. Music is powerful, like scent or tastes of foods... It's amazing, isn't it? I saw a story on a woman who had a brain problem, and she could not remember something that happened five minutes ago, but she could remember music. It was in her long-term memory. I am always amazed at how I can mentally pull up the lyrics to a song I haven't even thought of in 10 or 20 years... almost effortlessly, there they are!

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  2. Your slice, like the song, is very powerful and full of mystery. Music is amazing, how it stays in our brains, and pulls us into memories.

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  3. Ooh, I love the way you really unpacked exactly what the song was making you feel and why. Your last line is my favorite -- I could feel your feelings so clearly that I almost got goosebumps. I love that strange feeling of nostalgia that a song can bring, but I don't think I've ever pondered it this deeply.

    So glad to have a fellow CAWPer in the Slice of Life community, Jenn! I hope you will continue to write with us on Tuesdays when March is over. :-) Making time for writing is so hard during the school year, but this community keeps me going!

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